ARLINGTON, Wash. — As many as 90 people remain missing or unaccounted for in the search and rescue operation at the Oso mudslide, Snohomish County Emergency Management director John Pennington said Wednesday night.

"I do believe that it might drop a little bit more from that. We're getting a clear picture of the number of individuals we need to focus on out there," he said.

No new bodies were recovered during Wednesday's search, Pennington said.

Brian McMahan, a landslide incident spokesman, said crews found another body late Wednesday, raising the confirmed death toll to 25. Chief Steve Westlake, with the Snohomish County Emergency Management Operations Section, said not all the bodies had been recovered. He expected the number of dead to be updated on Thursday.

The disaster scene here has been compared to the eruption of Mount St. Helens, which killed 57 people.

In a panoramic sense, that's true. All about are mounds of gray sediment, as high as 15 feet, shaped like the ridges that the 1980 eruption left in the Toutle River valley.

But that was a largely unpopulated area. This community along the Stillaguamish River was a cozy enclave of a few dozen homes before a mile-square chunk of land overwhelmed it Saturday morning.

While the 90 missing and unaccounted for is a high number, it is still far lower than the 176 authorities were giving on Tuesday.

Oso's connection to the rest of Washington, Highway 530, was swamped by the mudslide. The westernmost 200 yards of the highway have been cleared. Still, the normal 20-minute drive through here between Arlington and Darrington is now a two-hour slog on a back-country access road.

Members of the community attend a candlelight vigil at the Darrington Community Center on April 5, 2014, in Darrington, Wash. Recovery and cleanup and prayer continues after a mudslide hit Oso and killed at least 30 people. Sofia Jaramillo, The Herald via AP

Residents bow their head in prayer as they attend a prayer service dedicated to the communities affected by the Highway 530 mudslide at Haller Middle School in Arlington, Wash., on April 4. Pool photo by Marcus Yam

A rescue worker walks down a makeshift plywood path carrying a personal item past the twisted wreckage of a car and other debris while working at the mudslide site in Oso, Wash. Annie Mulligan, Everett (Wash.) Herald, via AP

A first responder walks through a pile of debris during a search effort at the scene of a deadly mudslide on March 26 in Oso, Wash. Many people were still missing after a mudslide destroyed a community on March 22. Rick Wilking, AP

Tina Ray puts flowers on a cross for the mudslide victims at the Oso Community Chapel in Oso. Ray and her husband, pastor Gary Ray, run the Oso Community Chapel and are providing a place for victims and family members to come pray. Sofia Jaramillo, Everett (Wash.) Herald, via AP

A photograph released on March 26 on thethe U.S. Geological Survey websiteshows an area hit bythe March 22 mudslide in northwest Washington. The aerial survey was conducted by the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State Department of Natural Resources, the U.S. Geological Survey and King County sheriff's office. King County Sheriff's Office, Air Support Unit

A member of the Washington State FEMA Task Force One talks with an excavator operator while searching for victims of the Highway 530 mudslide in Oso, Wash. Matt Mills Mcknight, European Pressphoto Agency

Eveleen Promise holds her son, Xaven, 7, and she stands with her husband, Patrick Belt, right, and Doug Massingale as they wait for word of missing family members at a fire station. Elaine Thompson, AP

Brian Anderson, left, and Coby Young search through the wreckage of a home belonging to the Kuntz family after a mudslide on March 23 in Oso, Wash. The Kuntz family was at a baseball game when a mudslide swept through the area. Genna Martin, Everett (Wash.) Herald via AP